April 10, 2013 — The college is pleased to announce that Dr. DimitriMavriplis is appointed as the first A. J. Castagne Professor in the College ofEngineering and Applied Science. This professorship was created from endowment funds provided A. J. (Max) Castagne,an alumnus of the college (B.Sc. '43).

Dr. Mavriplis is an expert in computational fluid dynamics applied to flow around aircraft including helicopters. In 2003, the college's Mechanical EngineeringDepartment recruited him from NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., where he was developing novel CFD techniques to help perfect the aerodynamic aspects of aircraft. Dr. Mavriplis is currently the senior faculty member in a CFD research group that includes Dr. JaySitaraman, an assistant professor also recruited from NASA Langley and Dr.Stoellinger, an assistant professor who recently earned his PhD in the department of Mathematics at UW. The group also comprises doctoral students and post-doctoral researchers conductingCFD research on the aerodynamics of fixed and rotary wing aircraft and wind-turbines.

The endowment was created by Max after he passed away in 2011. Throughout his life, Max maintained an active interest in engineering and liked to discuss technical topics such as energy technology, aviation, and nuclear engineering.

Max was born in 1917 at Red Lodge, Montana. He grew up on his family ranch, and went onto UW where he attained the B.Sc. degree in mechanical engineering. Max worked briefly for Boeing Aircraft Co.before joining the U.S. Army Air Corps. After the War he worked for plastics manufacturer Bakelite Corp., and subsequently joined Westinghouse Electric Corp. where he worked on aircraftmen and then on power plant engineering in Pennsylvania and Washington. He retired at age 88, returning to Red Lodge.

He would have been delighted that Dr. Mavriplis is the founding holder of the Castagne Professorship.